Alliance Church of Leesburg steps in to help homeless

LEESBURG — The Alliance Church, in partnership with the First Baptist Church, both of Leesburg, have decided to continue a homeless ministry started by a young local boy in July 2016.

The decision comes after Alex’s Blessing Box, a distribution mechanism of food, toiletries and clothing for the homeless, lost its home and caretakers last month.

Originally, the large wooden box was built, erected, filled and maintained by 7-year-old Alex Martinez, with the help of his parents Raul and Janet Martinez and the Leesburg community, after he’d expressed an interest in helping the homeless people he noticed walking by their house on Vine Street.

Its purpose was evident by what had been written on its glass door. “Take what you need. Leave what you can. Be blessed,” it said in bold lettering.

“The Blessing Box was a real help for a quick snack like some crackers or canned stuff when you got real hungry and had nothing else,” said Ralph, a homeless man in Leesburg known to some as Radar, sitting in the Alliance Church’s parking lot this week.

Early last month, Janet Martinez, on the Alex’s Blessing Box Facebook page, said that due to unexpected circumstances, she and Raul were separating and being forced to move out of the home they were renting.

She asked the community to step up and keep the box filled for the homeless after getting permission from their landlord to leave it up until Alliance was ready to transition the program.

Last week however, the box was found mysteriously torn down and trashed, sitting atop an old ratty mattress on the curb waiting for trash pickup.

“There will be some change on our logo … sometimes change is good,” Janet wrote on Facebook.

Nevertheless, there are more boxes already built and ready to go up, as soon as details can be worked out by the churches regarding how the not-for-profit program will be run.

As of now, Alliance’s Associate Pastor Jim Weiss said it made sense to take on the program since the building First Baptist will be using, that belongs to and is located on Alliance’s grounds, is just one block away from its old location.

“We’re working on starting the program up and looking forward to seeing how we can help further,” Weiss said.

Weiss said that in the past, Alliance has helped and ministered to the homeless at places like Carver Heights Park pavilion and The Palms Hotel.

For the Blessing Box, Weiss said a call out to the community for donations will go out when ready.

He said any help the homeless can get is good, though finding shelter is still their biggest problem.

“We don’t really have that in this city yet,” Weiss said.

Weiss said in his experience with the homeless community over the course of the last 18 years, there are people who become homeless but can manage to get back on their feet.

Others, he said, never do.

“It’s a hard thing,” Weiss said.

Ralph, who occasionally attends church at Alliance, said there are other places in town that help the homeless in different ways.

He said there is a thrift store on U.S. Highway 27, in a strip mall near Leesburg High School, that offers a shower facility and a washer and dryer for those interested in cleaning up a little.

Some churches offer food, but places like the Salvation Army that used to offer hot meals in Leesburg have moved too far away for some to get to.

Weiss said though homelessness may be something that cannot totally be knocked out, he is glad that there are churches, businesses and people in the community with the heart to help them.

“There will always be people and churches that care and that do things to help the homeless, but really, they cannot change until they do one thing.